


we've read the back of the book

by harukatenoh



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: (esque), Love Confessions, M/M, Missing Scene, set during the years wherein they Get Up To Stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harukatenoh/pseuds/harukatenoh
Summary: (we know what's going to happen)A peaceful moment. Or as close as they'll get.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 109





	we've read the back of the book

**Author's Note:**

> i cannot fucking believe nolan got me. nolan. of all people.
> 
> work title from snow and dirty rain by richard siken

Neil remembers the best night of his life with perfect clarity.

It’s the two of them—Neil and his lifelong companion, his dearest friend, his greatest love—and they’ve just finished a mission, barely scraping by with enough skin and bone and flesh attached to qualify as still alive. It’s these kinds of missions that make him really _feel_ the life running through his veins. They’re the kinds that are tense and treacherous and fraught, the kinds that push him until he almost breaks. 

He doesn’t, though. Neither of them do, and when the danger passes, there’s no euphoria like revelling in the sheer and utter delight in still being alive. Of having pulled it off again. The two of them, two of a kind, two of a crime, time after time, alive once more.

Neil sags against the wall, and after a moment’s thought, lets his head fall until it’s touching his love’s shoulder. 

He grunts—shit, had that been the shoulder he jostled in the fight before? Neil could’ve sworn it was his left, not his right, and he’s about to pull away when the arm underneath him comes up to wrap around his shoulders. Pulls him closer. Keeps him near.

Neil turns his head to hide his smile in that slightly singed sleeve, even though there’s nobody around to see.

“That,” he murmurs, “was _far_ too close for comfort,”

“You’re telling me,” comes the reply. His voice is weak and tired, but Neil can hear the undeniable belief in life in his tone all the same. 

Neil smiles. There are cuts to be bandaged, and bruises to be iced, and Neil’s pretty sure his favourite jacket is irreparably stained with blood, but they both push those aside to sit and breathe through the aftershocks. Breathe through the exhausting relief of life prevailing.

Neil closes his eyes. Breathes in deep. He sits and tunes into the feeling of his heart beating. He lets the tension drain from his muscles. When the ringing in his ears has gone down, he opens his eyes again and sees that the sky is a brilliant, brilliant gold.

His love shifts ever-so-slightly beside him, and then Neil feels the trace of a thumb rubbing circles into his shoulder.

“Neil,” he says softly. He turns to look at Neil. “I would die for you.”

Neil looks back, his face breaking into a grin. “That’s awfully romantic,” he says. He bites his lip. The sheer enormity of his emotions threaten to overwhelm, like a sunrise over the horizon. Flowers in bloom. That kind of immense feeling.

“I mean it,” he replies.

The fingers on his shoulder dig in. Hold on. Keep steady. Neil breathes in, and breathes out, and smiles.

He presses a kiss to his love’s shoulder. “Me too,” he murmurs, reverent. “You know that, right? Me too.”

He exhales, unsteady. “Yeah. I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> broke: making up a name for the protag  
> woke: just referring to him as The protagonist  
> bespoke: neil being insanely romantic and referring to him in his pov as "love"


End file.
